SO, how many of you are married and with children and/or newborns? MWC, FIVE kids 2yr to 16yr.

Are newborns any different vs grown children for those of you who commute? Yes, errands for the older kids may hamper commuting, but maybe less than you think. I leave work at 4:30pm am home by 5:30pm and ready to shuttle kids.

Am I supposed to simply stop bike commuting (or cycling for that matter) simply because I have a child now? Of course not. Take a Traffic Skills 101 class to make sure you have all the tools to be safe on your bicycle. You stated a lot of moral reasons to ride; be a man and defend your adherence to your principles.

Is it bad for me to want my wife to drive the baby wherever we are going to end up having him watched while we are at work (she chooses to drive right now... her attitude might change in the future)? A car sometimes is the right tool for the job. I have the opposite problem in that my wife feels guilty for driving; I have to explain that a car is a tool and sometimes it is more appropriate than a bike.

Is the future really that grim for me? It is what you make of it. Smile, relax, and make it not grim!
Am I going to never ride again like this a**hole tells me? If you do what all a**holes in the world tell you to do, it is going to be a painful life for you. Recognize that certain truths are self-evident to you and ignore those that fly in the face of that.

Why is he being such a downer? It is called being passive-agressive. He has never liked your commute mode, and now feels empowered to be more agressive. Take a Traffic Skills 101 class, when he says you are being irresponsible, ask him how many motorists take Defensive Driving when they have a kid?

I'm sorry, but this is part of my life... so deal with it... or are they right? Don't be sorry. Educate yourself. Take Traffic Skills 101. Learn the TRUE statistics on motor vehicle deaths and injuries vs cycling and remind nay-sayers of that; if you even bother with them. Understand that Obesity, Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Attack are MUCH more likely to shorten your life than riding a bicycle for transportation. Bicycling for transportation keeps that crap at bay. I want to be alive and healthy to walk my daughter down the aisle when she weds: the problem is the assumption that a motor vehicle is going to help me do that better than a bicycle. You are struggling with this because our culture (read car advertising), government, and society push a motor vehicle as "safest", but your experience, and mine, is radically different from that "spin". Good luck, and God Bless.